An increase of a few percentage points in the capacity of an installation for carrying out an industrial process results as a rule in a disproportionately high improvement in profits for the operator of the installation. This type of industrial process can typically be a process with production lines which run through the installation, such as lines for the manufacture of paper, textiles, plastics or metal foils. With such processes the capacity of the process is determined by the speed of the track, e.g. measured in meters per second.
When a machine part for a machine contained in the installation or a complete part of the installation is designed for such an installation, this is mostly done on the basis of similar machines or parts of the installation, taking into account a certain amount of capacity reserve. However, under the operating conditions which actually occur in the installation, the loads imposed on the machine or the parts of the installation are mostly different to those in previously known installations. It is thus not possible to say with any certainty in what way it is possible to increase the capacity of an installation without overloading one or more parts of the installation.
Previous measures for increasing the capacity in such installations, especially in complex installations such as installations for carrying out continuous processes for manufacturing of goods on a production line have also generally lacked long-term sustainability.